Internal-combustion engine.



S. S. ERICKSON.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY20. 1915.

Ll'mifi. 'latented Feb.15,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES: K l/Vl/E/VTOR ATTOR/VEV S. S. ERICKSON.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1915.

1,172,124, Patented Feb.15,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1! 1 I WITNESSES: E I/Vl/EIVTOH S. Saloman Ema/:5 an.

.NTOR/i/E V S. S. ERICKSON.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1915.

1 172, 1 2%.; Patented Feb. 15, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- WITNESSES: //V [/5 IV TOR W 5 5. Salome/*2 frat/fa g h I BY 7%? SETH SALOMON ERICKSON, OF NEW YORK, N.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Feb. 15, 1913:.

Application filed may 20, 1915. Serial No. 29,309.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SETH SALOMON ERICKSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough'of the Bronx, in the county. of

Bronx and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Internal-Combustion Engine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Among the principal objects which the present invention has in view are: to reduce the number of friction-producing members; to increase the efficiency of the engine; and to simplify the engine construe tion.

Drawings.Figui-e 1 is a side elevation of an engine constructed and arranged in accordancewith thepresent invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of said engine; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section taken as on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken as on the line H in Fig. 1.

Descrptz'on.As seen in/the drawings, a

plurality of power units constructed and arranged in accordance with thepresent in-.

vention may be employed to operate upon the single crank shaft 9. In the engine shown in the drawings, the bearings 10 for so the said shaft are formed in supports mounted on' a base. plate 11. At suitable intervals, cranks are provided, with which connecting rods 12 are engaged. The rods 12 are employed, as in engines of conventional type, to transmit'power to the crank shaft. In the present construction, the connecting rod'12 of each unit is operatively connected to two pistons 13, a single wrist pin 14 being employed for this purpose.

The pistons 13 are preferably of uniform size and are mounted in cylinders 15. The

cylinders 15 are provided with alined guide slots 16, through which extends one of the wrist pins 14. Each wrist pin i=1 is passed through bores provided therefor in the pistons 13 and in the bridges 17 thereof. Each connecting rod ,12 operatively engages one of the wrist pins 14, being provided for this purpose with a bearing box 18, which has a so cap 19. The box and cap referred to are machined to form wearing surfaces for engaging the planed surfaces of bosses 20. in this manner, it will be observed, the head of the connecting rod 12 is maintained in as accurate alinement with the crank of the shaft 9, with which it is engaged.

The cylinders 15 are bolted to face plates 21,.round seats being provided for the said cylinders to form airtight joints and to close the lower ends of the compression chambers 22. The chambers 22 are closed atthe upper end by a barrel or apron 23 ofthe pistons 13, the joints of the said apron and side Wall of the said chambers being sealed by packing rings 24. Admission to the chambers 22 is attained through the ports 25 when the valves 26 are drawn from their seats in the valve casings 27. Each valve 26 is held seated by a spiral spring 28, which infolds the stem 29 extended outward from the valve. Each casing is furnished with a series of circularly disposed perforations 30 which form inlets to the casings 27 and to the chambers 22 when the said valves 26 are drawn from their seats by suction of the pistons 13. This construction is shown best in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The upper ends of each pair of cylinders 15 are closed by a single head 31. The heads 31 are each provided with recesses 32 for alinement with the cylinders 15 to form compression and clearance spaces in the explosion chambers of said cylinders. The recesses 32 are each connected with a centrally disposed ignition chamber 33, to

,which oil or other suitable combustible is admitted through a port normally closed by a spring-seated valve 34, as seen best in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The ignition chamber 33 and the cylinders 15 are suitably cored to form intercommunicating water jackets for cooling the walls of said chamber andvcylinders. The circulating system for the water furnished to said jackets, is not disclosed in the present application.

he explosive fuelemployed in the present engine is a suitable mixture of oil, preferably kerosene, and air. The compression necessary to the explosion is provided by the pistons 13, which during the power stroke, compresses air in the chambers 22, said air having been drawn into the chambers when the said pistons ar carried on "their return, or what is usually known as compression stroke. The air having been drawn into the chambers 22, is compressed by the pistons in their power strokes until at the end thereof, the intake ports 35 are exposed.

The ports 35 open into the explosion chambe'r of each cylinder and are formed at the end of inclined passages 36, which passages, as shown bestv in Fig.3 of the drawings, are slightly tapered to produce a nozzle-like action when delivering the compressed air from the chambers 22 and connecting tube 37 which operativelv connects each passage 36 with the outlet port 38 in each of the. chambers 22.- The purpose of the construction described, where the passage 36 is inclined and-contracted, is to deliver the air admitted after each explosion, to the combustion chamber in an upwardjet to avoid the exhaust port39 and to scavenge the combustion chambers.

It will be observed best by reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings, that prior to the exposure of the port '35, the exhaust port 39 as been fully open. It follows from this that prior to the introduction of the compressed air from the chamber 22 in each cylinder into the combustion chamber thereof, the explosion pressure of the explosion has been substantially diminished.

- In practice it is found that the escape of the burned gases is so rapid that at the moment of exposing the port 35, the pressure in the explosion chamber is atmospheric or less than atmospheric pressure. When, therefore, the compressed air is admitted, the burned gases are ejected from the combustion chamber. It will-also be noticed that at the moment of the introduction of the compressed air,'the pistons 13 are at the points of their most diminished movement, the connecting rod passing the dead center thereof. I

The oil above referred to is delivered to each of the ignition chambers 33 by small pumps 40. Each pump 40 has a miniature plunger 41, which is provided with a stem.

42, the end whereof extends into the path of the cap 19 of each connecting rod 12 to be engaged thereby'when said connecting rod is lifted. Each stem 42 is depressed by a spiral spring 43, as seen best in Fig. 2 of the In the fully depressed position prior to the engagement by the cap 19' of"- the stem 42 which inaugurates the operation of the plunger 41.

0pemtz'on.-The engine and units thereof are of the type known as two-cycle engines,

or of that character of engine where the livered tothe crank shaft 9 by each rod 12 is thus multiplied by the number of pistons connected therewith. As each piston moves on its power stroke, theair for each of the chambers 22 is compressed, the pressure gradually increasing in each chamber until at the approximate end of the power stroke of each of the pistons, the said pistons partially uncover the ports 35 in each cylinder. Immediately preceding the uncovering of the ports 35, the port 39 in each cylinder has been fully opened, prior to the introduction of air from the chambers 22, tube 37 and passage 36. During the swing of the .lower end of the connecting rod 12 past the dead center at the outer side of the shaft 9-,- the air which has been compressed and which is being delivered during this period of time to the combustion chambers, has opportunity afforded to scavenge the combustion chambers of the cylinders, to remove the dead or burned gases therefrom. When new in the rise of the pistons 13, the air is trapped in the combustion chambers, it is further compressed in the said combustion chambers and in the ignition chamber 33 communicating therewith This compression continues until the pistons 13 have been completely raised. "At the final portion of the compression stroke of the pistons, the cap 19 of the corresponding connecting rod 12 engages the stem 42 of the pump v40 to lift the plunger 41. of the said pump to injectoil in the chamber 33. The valve 34 is lifted by the pressure below and when opened, serves to spread the oil, which is thus forced past the stem, nebulizing it as it passes into the said ignition chamber '33.

The. valve 34 is seated by a spring 46 which infolds a stem pendant from the valve 7 34. It will be noted that the plunger 41 does not engage the stem of the valve 34 and that the spring 46 is permitted to seat the valve 34 at the instant of the suspension in the upward stroke of the plunger 41 and prior, to the ignition of; the explosive fuel in the chamber 33. The timing of the ignition is managed in this engine in a manner similar to that provided for engines of conventional construction.

While there has been herein described a form of engine employing a single connecting rod operated by twin or paired pistons, it will be understood that the number of pistons may be augmented. While the construction is notlimited to the paired arrangement of the pistons, such construction is nevertheless preferred as offering simplicity of construction and affording greater facility for placing and removing the wrist pins 14.

Claim:

An engine as characterized comprising a plurality of power units, said units each embodying a cylinder and piston reciprocatively mounted therein; a crank shaft; a connecting rod 'operatively uniting said shaft and said pistons for imparting the combined thrust of said pistons on said shaft through a single rod; an explosion chamber for supplying said cylinders; and oil-injecting means for supplying said explosion chamber, said means embodying a pump operated by said connecting rod.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

- SETH SALOMON ERICKSON.

Witnesses:

E. F. Mmmocn, C. A. JoHNsoN. 

